Lode Van Laere - CEO of Tonickx

Tonickx is a Kortrijk-based fashion company specialising in women's fashion. They produce and design private label collections for well-known fashion chains. Customers choose Tonickx because of their short-term collections. In six weeks a collection can be in the shop, allowing retailers to respond quickly to their customers' demand.

Recently you took part in the RetailDetail Days and testified about the 'new normal' in corona times. Why did you turn to Smartpresentations for your presentation?

I knew what I wanted to tell, it was all in my head. The difficulty was representing this visually in a presentation. It was also an ideal moment to show what Tonickx actually does, and I wanted to bring that in a stylish way.

Did you find our involvement added value for yourself and for the presentation? Where did we make the difference?

The presentation gave me confidence in the moment itself. You know that your presentation is good, and that gives you calm. With a self-made presentation, when you reach a slide that does not quite radiate what you want to tell, you quickly rush past it. You talk too fast, you get nervous and eventually you become unsure of your own story. I had none of that with your presentation.

You also know that your presentation is already telling in itself. There are not many words on it, though; it is built up mainly with images. It proved to be a very good guide for telling my story.

Presenting online is the new normal. Do you make much use of presentations or PowerPoint at Tonickx?

Our new collections can no longer be presented in our showroom due to the well-known Covid-19 measures. So we had to look for a digital way to present them. At the moment we take photos of the entire collection and send these to our customers in a PowerPoint. Not an ingenious system, but in the first week it immediately yielded 15 orders. Another big advantage is that there is far less time lost viewing and choosing the new collection. Everything happens digitally.

Even before corona we already worked a great deal digitally, because we work with production teams in Romania and Tunisia. To communicate with them and exchange feedback, PowerPoint is a handy tool. You share a presentation and each team gives its opinion.

What would you recommend to other companies who want to work with Smartpresentations?

Starting a bit earlier (laughs). On the other hand, it is fantastic what you have created in such a short time. In barely a few days you made the presentation I needed. One of your strengths is the storyline. You have half an hour to present. What is the essence to tell and what are the good anecdotes around it? What will interest people and what will not? Afterwards I received many positive reactions from people who were interested in Tonickx, so the aim has certainly been achieved.

Looking ahead, would you turn to Smartpresentations again for a future presentation?

Absolutely. Harald had also offered a coaching session to work with the presentation myself. Unfortunately I did not have time for this, but I would like to make use of it in the future. The best school is to give your presentation in front of someone who can give you feedback. Or to record your presentation and critique yourself afterwards. You see yourself skipping back and forth or talking far too fast and realise what you had better not do, or do differently, next time.